Prior to their use, medical and surgical instruments have to be sterilized. This is often done by placing the instruments in a container and inserting the container into an autoclave where the container and its contents are subjected to high temperature steam under pressure. The container is designed to allow steam to enter the container during the sterilization process so that the steam contacts the instruments therein. In some cases, the container is equipped with a valve which opens under the pressure of the steam in the autoclave and which closes following the sterilization process so that the container remains sealed until it is time to use the instruments. Other sterilization containers have permanent vent openings which are covered by a microbial filter. The filter allows steam to enter the container during the sterilization process but has a sufficiently fine structure to prevent the entry of microbes and other contaminants during and after sterilization. The present container is of the latter type.
Conventional sterilization containers which incorporate a microbial filter have several disadvantages. Some do not provide enough open space within the container to allow steam to penetrate, and circulate within, the container. Therefore, the sterilization cycle for such containers is relatively long, particularly if the sterilizer or autoclave does not include a vacuum cycle wherein air is drawn from the container prior to the injection of steam into the container. This problem can be alleviated to some extent by including vent openings in more than one wall of the container. However, this solution requires the placement in the container of a corresponding number of filter sheets which increases cost and the time it takes to assemble the container. Other sterilization containers are made of metal and therefore conduct heat efficiently. However, they are heavy and expensive and the heat-sterilized container cannot be handled until after it is cooled off which effectively increases the length of the sterilization cycle.
There do exist sterilization containers made of plastic material. However, those containers are not entirely satisfactory because it has been found that moisture accumulates within the container which moisture tends to wet the filter sheet thereby degrading its effectiveness as a microbial filter. In other such containers, the filter sheet is not sufficiently protected from medical instruments and other components within the container with the result that the sheet is penetrated, again destroying its effectiveness as a filter.
Still further, some prior containers of this general type are not designed to facilitate loading the container with medical instruments in a given order before sterilization so that those instruments will remain in the same position during sterilization and subsequent handling so that when it is time to use the instruments, they can be presented to a surgeon in a desired order for a particular procedure.
Finally, with prior sterilization containers of this general type, one cannot be assured that a sterilized container has remained unopened such that the instruments in the container are still in a sterile condition when it is time to use the instruments.